TPCS 31: ‘Traces of hate’: How the dominant migrant-hostile discourse in Dutch media and politics influences inter-ethnic relations between employees in Dutch work settings

By Hans Siebers and Marjolein Dennissen

Abstract

In many countries, migrants are located in unequal positions in the labour market compared to majority people. The impact of dominant discourses on migrants and migration in politics and media has been identified as a contextual factor that boosts ethnic inequality in career advancements. This study shows that the migrant-hostile dominant discourse in Dutch media and politics triggers the construction of ethnic boundaries in interactions between Dutch majority employees and colleagues with a migration background in work settings. These ethnic boundary constructions constitute the missing link between this discourse on the one hand and exclusion processes migrants have to face in work settings on the other hand. This study was carried out in the spring of 2011 and is based on 23 interviews with first and second generation migrants in The Netherlands, who are inspired by Islam and have a Moroccan background.

Keywords: discrimination, ethnic minorities, migrants, labour market inequality, ethnic closure, discourse, ethnic cleansing

How to quote: Siebers, H., & Dennissen, M. (2012). ‘Traces of hate’: How the dominant migrant-hostile discourse in Dutch media and politics influences inter-ethnic relations between employees in Dutch work settings. (Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies; No. 31).

Read the full working paper here: ‘Traces of hate’: How the dominant migrant-hostile discourse in Dutch media and politics influences inter-ethnic relations between employees in Dutch work settings.